A few years ago, I heard the story of a woman who went to her pastor and asked that he would pray for her husband, who had been ill for quite a while and was growing worse day by day. The pastor assured her that he would add her husband to his prayer list, which he did.

A few weeks passed, and the woman went back to her pastor to thank him for his prayers, stating that her husband had been completely healed. She then added the exclamation: “Isn’t God good!” The pastor responded in the affirmative by agreeing that God is indeed good, but then added a question: “Would God have not been just as good had He not healed your husband?”

I was thinking about that story this morning as I sat in the surgery center waiting room while my wife underwent gall bladder surgery. This type of surgery is pretty common, and the chances of something going wrong are minimal, but, surgery is surgery. There is always the possibility that an unforeseen problem could arise and a common, everyday surgical procedure could possibly go terribly wrong.

Teresa’s surgery was performed by the surgeon with no problems, and she is now sitting in the recliner across the room from me sleeping soundly and peacefully, for which I am thankful to our loving Father in heaven. And yet, during the procedure, as I waited for the text message that the operation was over, I knew that there was that possibility, be it ever so small, that things would go amiss.

Last night, as Teresa and I were talking about today’s surgery, she looked at me and said, “If something should happen…” I won’t share the rest of the conversation but suffice it to say we both committed her into the hands of God and trusted Him with the outcome of her procedure.

I certainly don’t want anyone to misunderstand the gist of this blog. Had something gone terribly wrong during the procedure and things did not turn out the way they did I would have been crushed to lose my soul mate. But at the same time, by God’s amazing grace and strength, I hope I would have given Him the glory for being a good God, never-the-less!

I remember years ago when I was about to be put under for surgery, the anesthesiologist came in and asked if I was nervous to which I replied that I was not. He then said that he would check my blood pressure to make sure everything was good, and when he saw the results he said, “Wow, you really aren’t nervous, are you? How can you be so calm?” This was one of those divine appointments in which God gave me the open door to share a quick word of witness with him, so I said, “In just a few minutes you are going to put me to sleep for my surgery. When I open my eyes, the first person I will see will be either my wife, or my Lord. Either one is fine with me.”

Admittedly, my faith is not always that strong, but on that day it was. Teresa’s was strong today. Why? Because God always gives grace that is equal to the situation at hand. If you are His child then it can, and should, be true of you. God is good, all the time. This morning Teresa and I experienced that reality once again as He brought her through this surgical procedure, and for that we give Him all the praise. Next time might prove to be different, and, by His grace, we will continue to give Him praise.

God is good – all the time.

Until next time:

Blessings!

If you have been a Christian for as long I have, then you have probably noticed a very obvious phenomenon taking place gradually in the church: disappearing vocabulary. There are certain words that have become conspicuously missing from the pulpit to the pew. Words that are prominent in the Bible, and that were at one time just as prominent in the church, that have become almost non-existent in the vocabulary in the church. My next few blogs will delve into this matter of the church’s disappearing vocabulary.

The first word that has become almost non-existent in today’s church is sin. Think for a moment about the last time you heard the word, either from the pulpit or from your acquaintances in your local church. Hopefully you attend a local church where the Bible is preached, and the important words of Scripture are still used. But some reading these words may be attending a local fellowship where sin is seldom, if ever, mentioned.

For the sake of clarity on the importance of this word, let’s consider a few verses that illustrate how crucial it is to keep sin fixed firmly in our vocabulary:

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23

And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. Romans 6:13-14

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Romans 6:1-3

The word sin is found 448 times in the King James Version of the Bible. This overwhelming number of usages of the word should be a clear indication of the importance of the word in Christian vocabulary. And yet, in many churches today, the word has been silenced.

Perhaps it is because of the desire to be more palatable to modern-day churchgoers. Perhaps we want our attendees to come to church to be encouraged and uplifted, not wanting to burden them with the demands of Scripture to repent of sinful actions, behaviors, and practices. Perhaps our desire to make people feel good about themselves gives the impression that God is pleased with a non-repentant attitude toward sin.

Read carefully the following warning concerning sinful lifestyles that are forbidden in Scripture:

Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Galatians 5:19-21

For any church to become silent concerning warnings such as this is to condone such actions, leading people to believe that these forbidden actions are acceptable for Christians to embrace. But hear the clear warning: those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God!

Sin is serious. So serious that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, had to give His life as a sacrifice to pay the penalty for sin. If you ever question just how serious it is, just look at the cross where Jesus paid it all.

The work of our archenemy, the devil, is to deceive individuals with his treacherous ways. If he can succeed in silencing the church on this crucial issue, he will make us feel comfortable with our sinful behaviors and lifestyle choices. The ultimate result will be eternal condemnation because the Bible states clearly that these will exclude individuals from enjoying eternal life in God’s kingdom.

I encourage each of you to take seriously the implications of becoming silent when it comes to sin. Let’s warn our friends, family members, work associates, classmates, and casual acquaintances of the dire consequences of becoming silent when it comes to sin.

Until next time:

Blessings!